


A Trip Across the Pond

by chiyukiakasuna



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, House M.D.
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 14:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11602344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiyukiakasuna/pseuds/chiyukiakasuna
Summary: At the behest of Dumbledore, Severus Snape travels to America to make contact with some prospective allies in the war against Voldemort. While there, he becomes mysteriously ill...





	1. Chapter 1

Summer, 1995

Severus Snape found himself on the northeast coast of America, sent there by Dumbledore for some Order of the Pheonix business. He walked amongst the crowded streets of Princeton, New Jersey, on his way to a conference in Plainsboro. ‘This had better be worth it,’ Snape muttered to himself. He disliked being without his thick robe. The muggle clothes he was wearing, a long sleeved, collared, button up shirt and some black slacks, were nothing like the thick clothes he usually wore in the Hogwarts dungeons, and it made Severus uncomfortable. 

Dumbledore had sent Severus to find and hopefully establish an alliance with the American wizarding community. Both men worried that Voldemort would extend his influence to other countries; European nations had already given or denied support. American wizards had not interacted much with European ones since the First Wizarding War when Grindelwald was the threat. They became isolationist after that. Dumbledore was worried though, so off Severus went. 

“Taxi!” Severus leaned over the curb, waving at the passing yellow cab. The car pulled over to pick him up, and he climbed into the back. “Princeton Marriott. Forrestal, if you please.” 

“Eh, wot? Say again?”

“Princeton Marriott in Forrestal.” He made sure to enunciate this time, knowing his accent was probably the source of the driver’s confusion. 

“Ah, I got’cha,” the car pulled away from the curb, “Y’got some business there?”

Severus decided the easier route would be to go ahead and talk with the driver, and he figured he could learn something about the Americans he’d be dealing with. “I, uh, do, actually. A meeting with the American branch of my…company.” 

“Company, eh? You one’ah those fancy entrée-pree-neurs?” 

“Uh, no. I’m just the messenger.”

“How long’ya here for?”

“A couple of weeks.”

“Heh. You’ll be talkin’ like us by the time you leave.” 

“I bet.” Severus surprised himself by actually chuckling. 

“Alright, here’s yer hotel. That’ll be $7.55.” The cabbie turned to look over the seat at his passenger. 

“Right,” Severus looked in his wallet at his newly-acquired American dollars, “Ah, all I have is a ten. Here, keep the change.” He stepped out of the cab, barely hearing the cabbie yell out “Ey! Thanks!” as he shut the door. 

He looked up at the hotel, sighed, and walked in and up to the front desk. “’Ello,” Severus felt self-conscious of his accent, “I’m looking for conference room three…” 

The clerk blushed, evidently charmed by the tall Brit in front of her. “Uh, uhm, it’s, right down the hall. Uh, second door on your, uh, right.” 

“Thank you, dear.” He left the counter, inwardly chucking at the American woman’s fascination with him. He followed her instructions, knocking at the door indicated to him to be his conference room. A short, round man in a suit jacket and slacks answered the door. 

“Ah, you must be Severus! Nice’tah finally meet you,” the man offered his hand, which Severus took and shook, and led Severus into the room. Severus shook hands with each of the people in the room, charming the two ladies with a peck on the cheek for each of them. 

“Well, now that you’ve been introduced,” the man closed the door and pulled out a small stick from his suit jacket. He waved the wand, turning the windows into one-way glass, “Disregard that; we’re all no-maj here, aren’t we? Let’s begin, yeah? Heard that Dumbledore is wanting our support with his, uh, what is it, ‘Society of…some bird, what was it…’?”

“Order of the Pheonix,” Severus corrected the man, “And yes, he is wanting your support. He’s afraid the Dark Lord will expand his influence into the Americas. He already has some roots in Europe, disregarding the island…”

“I see. Well, I don’t see why we can’t help you Brits out.” 

One of the women spoke up, “You think He’ll come here?” 

“Unlikely He himself will come here. But He may send his minions, which may actually be worse.” 

“Oh my…”

“Yes, Albus was thinkin- uh-“Severus grabbed his chest in pain. He coughed, and looked at his hand. Through blurry eyes he saw a splotch of red, he looked up at the other meeting members. He managed to choke out “Call 999” before collapsing in spasms. 

\----------

“Well, House?” Doctor Allison Cameron placed a red folder in front of her superior, Doctor Gregory House, awaiting his response. She hoped he would take this case, for it was among the more interesting cases the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital had seen recently, and she knew House enjoyed cracking interesting cases. 

“Mm, no.” House didn’t bother to look up from his video game at his coworker. 

“No?! You didn’t even read it!” 

House begrudgingly put down his game, picked up the folder and flipped through it. “Nope. He had a seizure. Put him on some AEDs and discharge him. He’s fine.” House’s game beeped and he clicked his tongue in annoyance at it. 

“With no history of seizures or epilepsy, no heart arrhythmia or any sort of clots to cause the seizure, coughing up blood and loss of vision beforehand… What do you mean you’re not interested in this, House?!” 

“Because it’s not interesting. And you’re only interested in him because he’s British.” 

“I am not! I’m interested because it’s an interesting case!” Cameron stomped her foot in annoyance.

“You’re not going to stop pestering me about this, are you?” House finally looked up from his game. 

“No, I’m not.” 

“I’ll take a look at him. No guarantees I’ll take the case.” 

Cameron sighed, exasperated. “Thank you, House.” 

“Uh-huh.” He returned to his video game, rolling his eyes at the younger doctor.


	2. Chapter 2

House hobbled into the examination room, where a haggard Severus laid on a bed of crisp white sheets. He plucked the patient’s chart from the edge of the bed, and found it unsurprisingly blank. No history of illness or incident in the limited information that Princeton Hospital could get from across the pond. 

“I told her so…” House muttered. 

The sheets shifted and Snape opened his eyes. He looked around and saw House. 

“I didn’t think the Americans would allow the homeless into random hospital rooms…” Snape groggily mumbled, seeing House’s wrinkled and untucked shirt, the top button undone, and faded blue jeans.

House, suddenly offended, made the split second decision to take the case. “I am your doctor,” He snipped. 

“Even better, they let bums become doctors.” 

House began checking the various monitors and tubes attached to Severus. “At least we American bums have dental.” 

“Ooh, straight for the teeth,” Severus smirked up at House, “Can’t even afford a razor, doc?” 

“I’m not here to be a fashion queen, brit.” All the monitors seemed to indicate normal vitals. Severus seemed to be reacting well to the seizure-treatment he was put on. House saw nothing actually interesting about the illness. The patient, on the other hand…

“Good reading there, bum?”

“That’s _Doctor_ Bum to you. And there seems to be nothing wrong with you. No history of seizures or clots, or anything really. You’re the pinnacle of health, aside from those teeth.” 

“My teeth are fine. Is that all you’ve got?” 

House sighed. “Look, unless you start showing symptoms again, we’ll have to write this off as a…freak accident or something and discharge you. There’s nothing I can do for a healthy person.” 

“Right. So… I know your emergency personnel had to undress me to get these tubes on me. Where is all my stuff?” 

“Here, in the drawers.” House opened the side-table drawer. In it, along with a few hospital pamphlets, was an overabundance of items. A long black stick with intricate carvings sat on top of a pile of bagged herbs, small bones, and odd coins. There were bottles of mysterious liquids, crystals of various shapes and sizes, a pocketwatch that had far too many hands, and a modest wallet. 

“How the fuck did you fit all of this in your pockets.” 

“They _emptied_ my pockets?!” 

“Why do you need all these herbs this is like an entire kitchen pantry over here.” 

“I don’t go digging around in your pockets, you git.” 

“What did you call me? Git? What the fuck is that?” 

“Oh, shut up.” House picked up the stick to examine it. 

“Hey! Give me that!” Severus was suddenly highly defensive. 

“Huh? What, this stick?” 

“My – yes, the stick. Just. Give it to me.” Severus’ voice was forceful and compelling. House found himself struggling to refuse the command. He slowly handed it over. 

“What’s the deal with the stick? I can kind of understand all this other shit… I guess you’re into that herbal homeopathy…but a stick?” 

“It’s none of your business."

“Yeah, alright. Well, like I was saying we’ll let you out in a couple hours provided nothing else starts…” House turned and began limping out the door. 

“Sure, but, ah, Doctor Bum?” House turned to glare at Severus. “It may behoove you to know that I can no longer feel my legs.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's a bit AU/messed up timeline. I decided not to mess with it in favor of having the plot move.


End file.
